My 'ole faithful finally died on me, the dreaded Err message and after about three hours trying every conceivable trick learnt from posts here in these forums and elsewhere on the net I am concluding she is gone.

Only one place in AU repairs Fuji S3's (according to FujiFilm Australia) and they tell me it is highly likely to be either the sensor electrics or the shutter mechanism. Moreover they clearly warn me the cost of repair could be easily upwards of $800.

I am not a pro photographer, more a happy serious amateur. I've been into photography since childhood and often help out as a second wedding photographer as well as do work for tourism related media publications. Not in the same league as most of you here but a great deal of fun all the same. The S3 was my first serious digital after near thirty years with film.

The Fuji sensors in my humble opinion are a cut above. There's just something about the way Fuji colours massage your eyes into total satisfaction that I can't quite explain.

So, where does someone like me go from here? I don't really want to hunt around for a used S5. Buying used is a bit of a gamble and I don't have the money to gamble like that. And I don't want to pay to have a six year old camera repaired for the same or near cost of a brand newie.

The D7000 is the one that has caught my eye. It appears to be quite a magnificent camera for the $ .... but it doesn't have a Fuji sensor.

I've been reading quite a bit about the prospect of Fuji heading back into the DSLR market and although I understand its only rumours I must admit I am extremely excited about this.

I have an old D70 which was given to me by a colleague so I'm not exactly in an emergency situation so I can wait if something is a foot on the horizon in the land of Fuji sensors in a DSLR.

Back to the D7000, has anyone gone from Fuji DSLR to the Nikon D7000? And if so, how do you find the image quality (apart from the obvious much higher res) when compared to what you are use to in your Fuji?

Mind you, I guess the magic of software these days narrows the advantages that Fuji sensors delivered right out of camera.